Most ovarian cysts are treated non-surgically

Written by: Dr. Lucas Minig

Published: 21/04/2016
| Updated: 17/02/2018

Edited by: Top Doctors®

An ovarian cyst is a fluid - filled sac that grows inside the ovary. It can be functional, and disappear with menstruation, or organic, which means it does not disappear in those days of the month and remains, being benign or malignant. The need for cyst removal depend on the patient presenting symptoms and the possibility of breakage, twisting or malignant conversion of the cyst.

Ovarian Cyst: What it is

An ovarian cyst is a sac filled with fluid, often water or blood, which grows inside the ovary.

How and why an ovarian cyst occurs

There are two types of ovarian cysts:a) Functional Cysts. They produced by ovulatory follicle growth that takes place once a month in each menstrual cycle. Usually measuring up to 20 mm and around day 14 of the menstrual cycle is broken, producing ovulation. For some reason, in rare cases, these cysts do not break and continue to grow, producing clinical symptoms and possible complications. Another type of functional cysts is that occurs after ovulation and corpus luteum cyst called.

These types of cysts are benign and occur during the childbearing age women, between the first and the last rule. Typically, usually they reabsorbed spontaneously without any treatment, after several menstrual cycles.

b) organic Cysts. They have no relation to the menstrual cycle. They can be benign or malignant and, depending on the nature, can occur at any time of life of women. Within benign cysts, the most common are mature teratomas, endometriosis, or cystadenoma.These types of cysts do not disappear with menstrual cycles and to persist and give some kind of symptom, they require specific treatment.

List of ovarian cysts and endometriosis

Ovarian cysts of endometriosis are one of the most common benign cysts organic in women during childbearing age. Endometriosis is a benign and self-limited disease. This means that, as is a disease that is nourished by estrogen women own, spontaneously disappears after menopause, so what "self-limited".Ovarian cysts of endometriosis do not usually give specific symptoms to those of any cyst. But it is true that patients with endometriosis, beyond ovarian cyst, often suffer from chronic pelvic pain, pain during menstruation, or even pain during sex.

Symptoms of ovarian cyst

Most women with ovarian cysts do not usually have any symptoms. However, a small group of them can express pain in different characteristics:

• Pain during defecation• Pain with intercourse or pelvic pain during movement• sudden severe pelvic pain, often with nausea and vomiting, which can be a sign of ovarian torsion that alters its blood supply; or is the expression of a rupture of a cyst with internal bleeding.• distention and bloating

Complications may suffer ovarian cysts

Ovarian cysts can have three main complications:• Rupture: by overgrowth of the same. This is in relation to its size but also the origin of the cyst. For example, endometriosis cysts often have a thick wall that rarely break, regardless of size. On the other hand, simple and functional ovarian cysts or corpus luteum cysts usually have a very thin wall and the possibility of rupture increases significantly above 6 cm.• Torque: is the turning on itself the ovary, leading to the artery that carries blood with oxygen to the ovary collapse and stop properly nourish, leading to necrosis of the same if not act quickly.Both rupture as ovarian torsion are pictures that cause acute abdominal pain that requires the patient to consult the hospital emergency room and that sometimes requires emergency surgery to fix it.• malignización: another risk of an ovarian cyst is that malignice over time. Today there are certain sonographic parameters that can be suspected that the cyst is malignant in nature, such as the existence of partition or solid lesions inside, uneven walls, heterogeneous content, or free fluid in the pelvis. Another factor to consider is the elevation of a tumor marker, CA-125. However, it is important to know that the CA-125 may also be elevated in many physiological situations without being due to ovarian cancer.

Treatment of ovarian cysts

The vast majority of women with ovarian cysts do not require any treatment. However, when cause symptoms when they have a greater than 6 cm in size, or when there is any suspicion that the case of a malignant cyst must be surgically removed.Today surgery ovarian cysts is performed by minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery in the vast majority of cases.

Ovarian cysts, unfortunately, have no way to be treated by taking pills of any kind. Those of physiological origin will spontaneously after a few cycles, mostly. Instead, those of organic nature require treatment only in the cases mentioned above. Birth control pills are indicated for years under the belief that made them disappear ovarian cysts, but scientific evidence has finally shown to have been ineffective for this purpose.In any case, the management and treatment of a woman with an ovarian cyst should be individualized and should be tailored to the needs of each particular patient under treatment from an expert in gynecology .

Dr. Lucas Minig is a renowned expert in Gynecology and Obstetrics of the city of Valencia. It has an extensive academic background, with a degree and a Doctor of Medicine from the Catholic University of Argentina and University of Buenos Aires, respectively. In addition, it has received from gynecologic oncologist after completing his training at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy, (2006-2008) and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, the National Cancer Ins...

Dr. Lucas Minig is a renowned expert in Gynecology and Obstetrics of the city of Valencia. It has an extensive academic background, with a degree and a Doctor of Medicine from the Catholic University of Argentina and University of Buenos Aires, respectively. In addition, it has received from gynecologic oncologist after completing his training at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy, (2006-2008) and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda (USA) (2008 -2010). Currently, Dr. Minig is chief of gynecology and obstetrics at the Valencian Institute of Oncology (IVO), Valencia, Spain. Currently combines his care activity with teaching and research. Participates actively giving lectures and conferences in numerous national and international conferences and is the author of numerous scientific articles and chapters of international books related to gynecologic cancer surgery and highly complex.

Dr. Lucas Minig is a renowned expert in Gynecology and Obstetrics of the city of Valencia. It has an extensive academic background, with a degree and a Doctor of Medicine from the Catholic University of Argentina and University of Buenos Aires, respectively. In addition, it has received from gynecologic oncologist after completing his training at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy, (2006-2008) and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, the National Cancer Ins...